Page:Original stories from real life 1796.pdf/116

Rh the cakes without the impulſe of hunger. In the ſame ſtyle people talk of eating and dreſs, and long for their meals merely to divide the day, becauſe the intermediate time is not employed in a more intereſting manner. Every new branch of taſte that we cultivate affords us a refuge from idleneſs, a fortreſs in which we may reſiſt the aſſaults of vice; and the more noble our employments, the more exalted will our minds become.

Music, drawing, works of uſefulneſs and fancy, all amuſe and refine the mind, ſharpen the ingenuity; and form, inſenſibly the dawning judgment. As the judgment gains ſtrength, ſo do the paſſions alſo; we have actions to weigh, and need that taſte in conduct, that delicate ſenſe of propriety, which gives grace to virtue. The higheſt branch of ſolitary amuſement is reading; but even in the choice of books the fancy is firſt employed; for in reading, the heart is touched, till its feelings are examined by the underſtanding, and the ripenings of reaſon regulate the imagination. This is the Rh